Last time we stated that the purpose of corporate worship is . . .
In his book Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin states, “Biblical worship involves proclamation and leads to proclaiming God’s truth with our lives. We’re doing more than emoting or having a ‘worship experience.’ We’re declaring why God is so great, what He has accomplished, and all that He has promised. We all need to be reminded, and proclamation helps us remember." We are a people who quickly forget things. We have a tendency to live in the moment and forget what has brought us to a particular time and place.
All throughout the Scriptures there are calls to remember. The feasts of the Old Testament were meant to be memorials that would enable the nation of Israel to remember and pass on to future generations what God had done to make them into a people of His own possession. They were designed to recall how He had continued to graciously provide for them. The monuments were another tool used for remembering. There were many times that memorial stones were erected in order that the coming generations would see and ask what transpired in a particular place. This would give opportunity to once again recount the mercies of God to individuals and the nation.
In the Gospels, when Jesus inaugurates the New Covenant at the Passover celebration on the night He was betrayed, He told His disciples, and those who would come after them, to partake in remembrance of Him. Peter desires the same thing when he writes, "Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder" (2 Peter 1:12-13). Our worship gatherings must have a component of remembrance, and what we are to remember is the Gospel. We should never think that the Gospel is only for unbelievers and that we ought to move on to deeper and more profound topics in our worship gatherings. There is nothing more central to our faith and to our gatherings than the Gospel.
"to remember what God has done to bring us into relationship with Himself through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to celebrate the communion that is now possible with God, to give attention to His word and to recommit to living within the grace of this covenantal relationship with God and each other."Our first priority is to remember.
In his book Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin states, “Biblical worship involves proclamation and leads to proclaiming God’s truth with our lives. We’re doing more than emoting or having a ‘worship experience.’ We’re declaring why God is so great, what He has accomplished, and all that He has promised. We all need to be reminded, and proclamation helps us remember." We are a people who quickly forget things. We have a tendency to live in the moment and forget what has brought us to a particular time and place.
All throughout the Scriptures there are calls to remember. The feasts of the Old Testament were meant to be memorials that would enable the nation of Israel to remember and pass on to future generations what God had done to make them into a people of His own possession. They were designed to recall how He had continued to graciously provide for them. The monuments were another tool used for remembering. There were many times that memorial stones were erected in order that the coming generations would see and ask what transpired in a particular place. This would give opportunity to once again recount the mercies of God to individuals and the nation.
In the Gospels, when Jesus inaugurates the New Covenant at the Passover celebration on the night He was betrayed, He told His disciples, and those who would come after them, to partake in remembrance of Him. Peter desires the same thing when he writes, "Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder" (2 Peter 1:12-13). Our worship gatherings must have a component of remembrance, and what we are to remember is the Gospel. We should never think that the Gospel is only for unbelievers and that we ought to move on to deeper and more profound topics in our worship gatherings. There is nothing more central to our faith and to our gatherings than the Gospel.
"Father, as we gather together, may there be an element of remembrance. May You stir our hearts and minds to recall what You have done for us at the cross and how you have brought us to Yourself. As we proclaim and celebrate the Gospel may the next generation hear the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. Amen."
Songs for Our Gathering this Week:
God is Able (F1/F2/F3)
My Lighthouse (FSat)
by Rend Collective
Glorious Day
by Michael Bleecker | Mark Hall
Great Are You Lord
by David Leonard | Jason Ingram | Leslie Jordan
Ancient Words
by Lynn DeShazo
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